Phil's Blog
Results 1-10 of 71 articles.September re-starts
Aug 31 2010
September re-starts
Isn’t it something deep in our psyche about this time of year that makes us ready for a “new start”, a new term, perhaps a new harvest...
Of course, throughout our lives this time of year represents such a new start – whether it be the start of school at the age of 4 or 5, the start of college/ university, or even the start of new jobs (which often coincide with this time of year).
So, how to make the most of this mood?
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Just Doin' It!
Aug 24 2010
Just Doin’ It
That sportswear company weren’t daft when they chose the “Just Do It” slogan, coupled with the tick logo.
Do people really Just Do It? I often hear this applied by some gung-ho executive to a new project and sometimes it’s easy to apply the slogan to big decisions. Let’s just do it!
But often the mantra gets overlooked where it can be really at its most powerful… I mean when applied to the small decisions which lead to the achievement of goals.
Let me explain:
Imagine the salesperson whose success hinges on the number of clients he acquires. All about making calls, as anyone in sales will tell you. And yet, getting to make the requisite number of calls is the bane of the salesman. It’s tough. Sales managers all over the world struggle to get their teams to make enough good quality calls.
And what about the person who wants to get fit, and decides to start running. That’s tough too. It’s not so much the actual physical act of running that’s tough (though it is, of course!), but the real tough part is getting yourself to actually do it. To actually put on the trainers, warm up, and get out there, on a consistent and regular basis.
There are always 1001 reasons not to do these things. The time is never perfect.
Those who “Just Do it”, are inevitably the ones who achieve success. Once you train yourself to overcome the inner argument about whether or not to do it, life opens up to you.
Once you are able to Just Do It, the world becomes your oyster.
Take one habit, one key to success over the next month, and apply the “Just Do it” mantra. And see the success it brings for you. I know you will feel great for having just done it.
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Where is your Focus?
Aug 23 2010
Where to Focus
A question once arose at one of my workshops about where to Focus. If one merely focuses on the long-term goals, nothing seems to get done and idle daydreaming can become the order of the day. And if we just focus on the short term it’s like being on a hamsters’ wheel.
Of course, the answer is to focus on both. You need to know where you are going long term and also be focused enough on the “here and now” to avoid accidents and take opportunities.
It’s a skill that needs honing. It’s rather like when you are driving a car. Do you know where you are driving to, your destination? Yes. But you need also to focus on the road you are on. You need to be able to see what’s happening far ahead of you, and you also need to be aware of what’s happening right around you. Is that pedestrian about to cross the road, and what about that dog on a lead just ten yards away? And what’s happening at that junction 50 yards ahead.
In business it’s the same. You need to know your destination: the vision you are aiming for, and your strategic goals. And you need to be aware of what is happening this quarter, this month, this week, today, and right now in the moment.
And rather like when you are driving, you need to notice the signs to your destination, you need to know the route, you need to plan the journey, but if you spend all your time looking at the map and not looking up, you will never get there safely! You also need to take account of the road conditions, the traffic, any sudden changes to your plan, and adjust your journey constantly. And while you are driving, you need to be able to keep adjusting that focus from 10 yards, to 50 yards, to 100 yards, even further ahead on occasion. Business focus is about knowing your Strategic, Tactical and Operational Focus at all times. It should be almost instinctive, and this is made easier by knowing where you are going.
This ability to switch focus very quickly from long term to short term, from 1000 yards ahead to 10 yards ahead, from 3 year goals to quarterly goals, to weekly goals to daily goals is a skill worth mastering. It’s also one of the key factors in determining the outlook for an owner-managed business – where is the owner’s focus? Over the past few months, perhaps understandably, the focus has been very short term in most businesses and organisations, large and small. But now, I get the impression, people are starting to look up, to view the whole map of campaign... I hope I’m right.
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A Vital Signs Barometer
Aug 17 2010
A Vital Signs Barometer
Many people tell me that they instinctively know when they have just gone “off the boil”, even before it starts to truly manifest itself in any downturn. There are some key personal indicators, and there are also some business indicators peculiar to every business. These can act like a barometer. And we instantly and instinctively know when our “vital signs” are poor.
Examples: fitness, eating and sleeping habits; time with your kids; your hobby; being on time and prepared for meetings or other scheduled events; even your level of tidiness... eg. office, desk, home, boot of car, even diary.
This barometer acts as an indication that all’s not well, and that some work is needed in a vital area:
Head= Mindset
Heart= Passion and Enthusiasm
Lungs= Energy
Organs= activity
So what do you do when your “vital signs” drop?
I recommend a specific handling strategy. It could include:
The extent of the handling strategy will depend on specific circumstances, and might only be doing two or three of these things, and taking only an hour or two. Or it could be doing all of these (and more) over a day and a half! The important thing is to notice when your signs are low, and take action to remedy immediately. Ignore the barometer at your peril...
Your Barometer is an early warning system… a very simple indicator when things are going well and when things are not going well. And even though it’s not necessarily directly and obviously linked to your performance, it can also be the first thing to repair.
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BSE Day or TPR Day?
Aug 12 2010
It has become customary in some quarters for the first Friday 13th of the year (and this Friday is just that – the first Fri 13th of 2010) to be “BSE day”- Blame Someone Else day! And it's an excuse to blame others for everything that goes wrong (internet/ web based card companies have latched onto it and you can send suitably negative downloadable greetings to people!)
But… The Blaming and Complaining Virus is our worst pandemic! It destroys our businesses, it destroys our careers, it destroys our teams, our friendships, our relationships and our families. And it destroys us.
So rather than seeking to blame and complain; it’s time to TPR.
Take Personal Responsibility
All successful people begin by taking one fundamental step. That step is to realise that they are fully responsible for their own success. Whether that’s business success, showbiz success, sporting success, personal success. They all know that in the end it’s down to them: “If it’s to be, it’s up to me!” They Take Personal Responsibility.
So, instead of making Friday 13th BSE day (blame someone else), make it TPR day… and discover the difference.
Rather than assuming that we'll get bad luck on Friday 13th, and that everything is someone else's fault, it's a day for thinking highly positively about how much personal control and responsibility we have over our own lives, our own successes, and that we can make our own luck!
Thirteen tips
... to make Friday 13th a real TPR day - and these are usable on any day!!!
1. Don’t blame the traffic, government, weather, economy, or any external factors for the way you feel… you have a choice over your attitude. Never complain, never explain, never blame – yourself or others.
2. If you don’t feel enthusiastic or excited about your life, just Act as if you were enthusiastic and excited.
3. If you want to feel more energetic, Act energetic. Change the focus from “Losing weight” to “Gaining Energy”.
4. The Napoleon factor: “Est-il hereux?” Napoleon famously made the final decision when promoting his officers to the most senior positions by asking “Is he lucky?” and yet the literal translation is “Is he happy?” Those with a sunny demeanour create their own luck. Create a sunny disposition. Even a rainy day is no match for a sunny disposition.
5. Create mind images of positive outcomes in every situation: for example, if you create a positive image in your mind of a meeting in advance, you’ll have a positive meeting.
6. Use the “Elastic Banned” method to remove images and associations in your mind which are counter-productive.
7. Do something kind and good, just for the hell of it!
8. Decide that you do have a choice over every action you take.
9. Pause momentarily before responding to whatever is happening around you… whether you have been cut up in traffic, or someone has made a misplaced comment, or you are being misunderstood, or have misunderstood someone else. Pause.
10. If something is “bugging” you, decide what factors you do have control over in sorting it out, and act on these factors only.
11. If you have a troubling decision to make, the first decision is to decide when you will have come to an answer; give yourself a timescale, and then decide how you are going to think about your options, before determining your course of action.
12. As well as the logic of every situation, pay heed to your gut-feeling and use it today to guide you in making an important choice.
13. Recognise that there are no Coincidences in life… opportunities come along for you to take. At least one opportunity will arrive today. Will you see it? Decide that this Friday 13th is going to be a day of amazing good luck… there will be an opportunity you can take which will come along for you today, I promise.
Which Division? Time for a spring clean
Mar 25 2010
Which Division? Time for a spring clean
Spring: renewal, rebirth, fresh sunny mornings. Yet, for many people, spring means one thing; yes that’s right, heading towards the climax of the football season!
So, to take a familiar analogy, which Division do you put your business in? Are you a Premiership business, or first division?
When asking this, most people, I have found, put themselves and their businesses somewhere around mid-table, and others, being rather critical of themselves say they are perhaps not even in the Premiership and could do with getting promoted.
What better time of year to promote your business than Spring. Yes, it’s officially springtime… time for a good clean out, and a rebirth. Time to upgrade the business and become world class.
Which sports team does your business equate to? And in terms of results, performance, range of ambition, belief, structure, club environment what would make you deserve “promotion” into the top flight?
A business spring clean may be in order. Here’s how to do it:
i. Business foundations - Vision, Values, Mission, Goals, strategy- all clear?
ii. Your “Shop window” - what you project to the world; your brand; all you stand for; and how the world perceives your business.
iii. Clients and customers – are you clear about the clients and customers you want, what you can do for them; and are they clear about what to expect, and what you can do for them?
iv. Environment -the place you work… is it clutter free?
v. Self -are you thinking, acting, and talking like a success?
vi. Team -are they thinking, behaving, talking like a successful team? And are they committed to continued success and to being world class?
vii. Business systems, processes, and financial controls -simple, effective, clutter-free?
What needs upgrading in each of these areas?
Have a brainstorm on all those things you can immediately change to upgrade your business to the status of world class. Find twenty things to just improve… and create a culture of constant upgrading, of business zest, energy and freshness.
Just as a body finds it difficult to function with clogged arteries, and just as we feel re-energized when we spring clean, so too in our business and professional lives a “spring clean” will yield immediate results. It may be that a day dedicated to a “Business Spring clean” will energise you and your team at just the right time.
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Is it different?
Mar 18 2010
Is it Different?
We’re approaching a quarter of the way through the year. Certainly, you will now be in full flight, the New Year seeming a long time ago.
So it’s time to see how you are doing. Time to take stock… and not just a cursory glance at the figures… but a key question:
What are you really doing differently this year? Really Differently.
Interestingly, because of the current climate it seems people are implementing more change than in previous years. Or at least they think they are… many of course are just “tinkering”.
And we know that this year the external rate of change is, well, a bit big!
So, is your approach to this year, in reality, any different to last year…?
And what tangible, specific evidence do you have of this, in terms of :
Your tactics
Your regime,
Your performance,
the decisions you have taken and implemented regarding the development of your business or your career.
And what tangible evidence is there in terms of your results.
In particular, it’s about being able to cite specific occasions when you have consciously done something new, or consciously taken a different decision, or chosen a specific direction to take.
Have you created those “butterfly in the stomach” moments? Have you simply settled into a new quagmire? Do you feel as if you are truly making breakthroughs and moving forward?
What can you do in the remaining few days of this quarter to really make a mark? What bold strategic decision can be made to take you forward on the journey to your goals this year? What one thing can you focus on achieving to make sure the first quarter has set a gold standard for the rest of 2010?
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Generative Thinking
Mar 11 2010
Generative Thinking
I recently had someone say…
“All of our Brainstorming and Strategic meetings generate lots of discussion, but we seldom really create any concrete action. We use some brainstorming techniques and minutes are often written, but we don’t get full value for the time taken out of the business by our highest paid people!”
A common enough complaint. It may sound strikingly familiar to you.
So how can we truly overcome the enigma that we need to think, plan, create new ideas, and at the same time we need to be constantly productive and acting fast every day to keep making money?!
George Bernard Shaw once said: “ I made an international reputation by thinking twice each week”.
The secret lies in the four cornerstones of what I call Generative Thinking.
And this is not just for those one-off group brainstorming sessions. No, this is to create a culture of “generative thinking”, of ideas, of opportunities, and of ways to put them into action.
And the four cornerstones are…
1) Time.
2) Space
3) Topic
4) Tools
The Second cornerstone for generative thinking is …Space.
Find an environment which is away from your normal work space. No, you don’t have to climb a high mountain and get above the clouds, or sit in meditative pose. Preferably away from any potential distractions… such as phones, and so on.
And the final cornerstone crucial to developing powerful generative thinking is… Tools. It is imperative that we have some thinking techniques which allow you to capture the ideas as they are generated. So, Tony Buzan’s Mindmapping, or Edward deBono’s “Thinking Caps”, or any number of tools will help. Most people think in pictures. And these don’t have to be works of art… they can be very basic. The Stratagrams (Strategic Diagrams) I have devised and used many times are there to generate thought, harness opportunity, and act as a record for ongoing monitoring and follow-up. Certainly, you will find it amazingly beneficial to always think with a pen in your hand.
Generative thinking is not about sitting back allowing the thoughts to come to you and then hoping that one day you may get round to implementing ten percent of the ideas. It’s about generating action, through thinking.
It also takes practice… Start now, you’ll never regret it.
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Disillusioned Posters?
Mar 09 2010
Disillusioned Posters?
1) Enthusiasm
2) Disillusionment
3) Panic
4) Search for the Guilty
5) Punishment of the Innocent
6) Praise and Honours for the non-Participants.
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Time for a Change
Mar 04 2010
A recent survey of financial habits in the UK concluded that we currently spend more of our money each week on travel than on food. This for the first time in statistical history, and at a time when many people are under-exercised, and when obesity is at unprecedented levels.
Some would conclude that we should at least go back to walking to the shops! The reason we don’t? Time. And yet, if we really do value that most precious resource, why is so much of it “spent” rather than “invested”. Those who have seen me speak on this, and long-time readers of my Business Dynamite newsletter, will immediately see what I am getting at here.
The reality is that whilst many people don’t think they have the Time to make the Changes they need to make in their life, they do.
Those who undertook the Olympic Challenge during the last month have learned that although it is tough to fit in six new habits in the available time in an already busy schedule, once you prioritise and focus, it is more than possible. In fact, never did “lack of time” become an issue for the participants; it was other barriers that had to be overcome. Once the decision had been made to make changes, and it was easy to fit into the schedule. It’s a question of making that decision to change.
In every case a breakthrough was achieved, and many reported their best ever month in terms of balance, focus, pro-active business development, and business results.
Some have even said they are going to continue for another month with a new set of habits to develop. In all cases, the true victory was in the day-to-day highlights generated with both small successes and large breakthroughs being shared.
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